Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III will still have the final word on plagiarism and other charges against him stemming from his strong objection to the matter of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill.
Sotto, it was gathered yesterday, intends to deliver a scathing privilege speech on the Senate floor tomorrow before unleashing his remaining and closing arguments on the bill.
The upper chamber leader said he is heeding the advice of his colleague, Sen. Edgardo Angara, who earlier had called on critics and supporters of Sotto and Sen. Pia Cayetano to drop the issue on plagiarism.
Both Sotto and Cayetano have been accused by their critics of supposedly committing plagiarism in their respective privilege speeches in the recent past over the debates on RH bill.
Angara said the issues hurled at his colleagues are merely an unnecessary distraction on the debates over the RH bill, adding concerned sectors should instead focus on the essential arguments in the measure.
Sotto, in a radio interview, acceded to Angara on the matter of focusing on the merits and demerits of the measure and not on the characters of senators who are in favor and against the bill.
“I’m in agreement with him on that matter. All I’m after is to explain my side on the issue of plagiarism. Not that I’m out to humiliate or retaliate at those who made the charges against me, I just want to clear the air and bring to the public the issues (surrounding RH bill), that I’m not trying to make myself appear as an expert and for those who are trying to bring me down understand the meaning of plagiarism,” he said.
Sotto’s speech on the matter intended for Tuesday is separate from his turno en contra on the said measure, he said.
“It’s about the criticisms, the hatchet job against me, including the issue on plagiarism. They have aired their side and I think I’m entitled to be heard as well, for the public to have a balance and fair view on the issues,” he said.
Sotto said it’s obvious that his critics have resorted to engaging in character assassination as the debate on the bill intensifies in Congress.
“It’s really getting personal their attacks against me and which I think ought to be addressed that’s why I’ll be having this privilege speech,” he added.
Sotto has earlier said the issue being referred to was a portion where he cited in his speech an information from the book of  Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, that contraceptives are not just detrimental to women and the unborn but are also scientifically proven to have damaging effects to children born from mothers who were using contraceptives prior to their pregnancy too.
The said passage read as follows: “The use of the pill also causes severe gut dysbiosis.  What is worse, drug induced gut imbalance is especially intractable and resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change. Gut imbalance brought on through use of the pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients.  
“As a result, even if a woman eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, if she has been taking oral contraceptives for a period of time beforehand, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of all this healthy food as the lack of beneficial flora in her gut preclude this from occurring.
“Pathogenic, opportunistic flora that take hold in the gut when the pill is used constantly produce toxic substances which are the by-products of their metabolism.  
“These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and they have the potential to cross the placenta. Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxins. Not well known is also the fact that use of the pill depletes zinc in the body.  Zinc is called “the intelligence mineral” as it is intimately involved in mental development.”  
Clearly, Sotto said, this is just but another attempt to divert the core issues surrounding the bill “by shooting the messenger.”